Citation

Gordon DM, Iwamoto D, Watkins ND, Kershaw T, Mason D, Judkins A. J. Poverty 2011; 15(2): ePub.

Affiliation

Division of Prevention and Community Research, The Consultation Center, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10875549.2011.563173

PMID

24273406

Abstract

This study investigates how unemployment, traumatic sexual experiences, substance use, intimate partner violence, and parental involvement collectively contribute to involvement with child protective system (CPS) and court-restricted access to children among low-income, ethnically diverse fathers. Participants were 164 fathers involved in a statewide fatherhood program. The majority of the fathers in the program were unemployed (76%) and ethnic minorities (66%). Logistic regression revealed that traumatic sexual experiences and number of children were significant predictors of CPS involvement, whereas employment and traumatic sexual experience were associated with court-restricted access to their children. The results elucidate that clinicians and father-hood programs may need to attend to the history of traumatic experiences, as well as other contextual factors, of fathers and identify how, through trauma-focused interventions, to positively affect them and their children.

Language: en